truer words have never been spoken

the other night pea and sprout were playing with their papa and the baby must have been doing something, i don't know...baby-like, you know, where they don't take direction well and exhibit their own strong-will. i'm not exactly sure what was going on, but i overheard pea explain to his papa that the baby's brain must have been washed.

i perk up my ears and redirect my attention. my husband, equally interested in this turn of phrase, asks the pea where he heard it.

pea's response was, "on television. every single show i watch has a bit of brainwashing in it."

we have no idea what he meant, but we understood entirely.


part of me wants to get rid of the damn thing. for good. i've gone nearly a year without turning it on. my husband, before i moved in with him, had a small (like 13") probably black and white TV, just in case, but it wasn't even plugged in. just in case of what, i don't know. but i have never been able to fully end my love affair with television.

i grew up completely unaware that one day the slogan i saw on the t-shirts of many unkempt, longhairs around the university campus area that said kill your TV would resonate with me so much.

i grew up with a television in my bedroom. my oldest son grew up watching rugrats, i used our collection of what i thought were child-appropriate VHS tapes as a babysitter to i get homework done, i didn't censor much. when we moved out of a one bedroom apartment, he also had a television in his bedroom. at the ripe old age of three. it wasn't until he was eight that i decided to limit out exposure.

by the time pea was born, i knew better than to use the television as means of entertainment and i was determined not to let him watch anything until at least two years of age. then he turned three, i got pregnant, and PBS became my friend. since we never broke that habit, the baby now happily sits with his older brother for a good dose of super why or sesame street.

overly paranoid  protective crunchy mom fail. i know.